On the 2nd Israel offered to allow foreign passport holders the opportunity
to leave Gaza for safety, about 400 foreigners took them up.

ISMers didn't. those staying in Gaza are:Alberto Arce - SpainEwa
Jasiewicz - Poland/Britain
Dr. Haider Eid - South Africa
Sharon Lock - AustraliaVittorio Arrigoni - ItalyJenny Linnel - Britain
Natalie Abu Shakra - Lebanon
Eva Bartlett - Canada

"we wonder what they have planned next that they don’t want outsiders
here to witness. To be absolutely honest, if this goes on for weeks, I
don’t think all of my ISM group will make it out alive. But are our lives
worth any more than those of the people of Gaza?" Sharon

“With the Israeli ban on international journalists, the Gazan voice has
been further muted. Communicating the reality on the ground with the
external world is essential to highlight the illegality of Israel’s
attacks. We recently started accompanying ambulances to document the
attacks on medical personnel, which is a violation of the Geneva
Convention. I have seen and felt the suffering of families and cannot
leave them, all the civilians are vulnerable to Israel’s attacks. We
intend to stay and continue exposing the nature of Israel’s attacks on the
Gazan people. ” Jenny Linnel - International Solidarity Movement

Sharon has turned the quotes from the children below into a poster that
can be downloaded from UK indymedia.

"I am so glad to be here, to be a small sign to Gaza folks that people do
care about them. And my fabulous friends are sending supportive messages,
not only to me but to Palestinians, who cluster round to look at them, and
translate them to each other, sometimes in tones of astonishment; and to
smile at the footage of demonstrations and vigils. I told a local friend
today that Israelis will be demonstrating against their government’s
actions on Saturday, and she could hardly comprehend it. (See a Jerusalem
demo that’s happened already here.) I look forward to sharing the pictures
of this and all the other rallies about to happen, with her and everyone.

I would much prefer to let Palestinians speak for themselves, especially
some of the 50% of Gaza’s population who are under 18 years old. (If you
can only remember one statistic, that’s the one you want.) I slept last
night in a sea of blankets with the Kabariti girls, and thank goodness,
there were less attacks on the port than the night before and they could
get a little sleep. They have provided me with very neatly written
messages to you, which I promised would be on this page before their
bedtime. So here you go:"

>From Suzanne, 15 (in English):
“The life in Gaza is very difficult. Actually we can’t describe
everything. We can’t sleep, we can’t go to school and study. We feel a lot
of feelings, sometimes we feel afraid and worry because the planes and the
ships, they hit 24 hours. Sometimes we feel bored because there is no
electricity during the day, and in the night, it is coming just four hours
and when it comes we are watching the news on TV. And we see kids and
women who are injured and dead. So we live in the siege and war.”

>From Fatma, 13 (in English):
“It was the hardest week in our life. In the first day we were in school,
having the final exam of the first term, then the explosions started, many
students were killed and injured, and the others surely lost a relative or
a neighbour. There is no electricity, no food, no bread. What can we do -
it’s the Israelis! All the people in the world celebrated the new year, we
also celebrate but in a different way.”

>From Sara, 11 (in Arabic, translated by Habeeb, 18):
“Gaza is living in a siege, like a big jail: no water, no electric power.
People feel afraid, don’t sleep at night, and every day more people are
killed. Until now, more than 400 are killed and more than 2000 injured.
And students had their final first term exams, so Israel hit the Ministry
of Education, and a lot of ministries. Every day people are asking when
will it end, and they are waiting for more activist ships like the
Dignity.”